Street to be named in America after Easter Rising

A street in New York will be named as Easter Rising Way in a ceremony attended by Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams.

The currently unnamed street in Maspeth, west Queens will be ‘born’ the Saturday when the Sinn Fein president has been invited to make a keynote speech at the formal ceremony.

The street is in a traditional Irish-American part of Queens, overlooking the Fenian Monument erected in 1907 by the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, which was involved in planning the Easter Rising.

Queen’s Chronicle reported Mr Adams visit by saying: “In some circles, Northern Ireland political leader Gerry Adams is viewed as being at least partially responsible for bringing peace to the island after decades of bloody nationalist conflict.

“In others, the president of the Sinn Fein political party is viewed as someone complicit in bombings and assassinations that killed countless innocent people and rivals alike during The Troubles.”

New York City councilwoman, Elizabeth Crowley, is helping to organise the street naming ceremony.

She said: “The Easter Rising Way co-naming is a celebration of Ireland, its Proclamation for Equality and its connection to America. It is a celebration of peace, equality, independence and progress, and I am thrilled to have Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams be a part of it, as well as other notable Irish figures.”